Supporting the Media Sector in Eastern and Southern Africa Region: Capitalisation of Experiences in SDC Supported Programs, Kigali 24-26.05.2016. Synthesis Report
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Southern, Eastern, Northern Africa and Palestine Division (SENAP) (2016), 22 pp.
"Burundi: even in very difficult situations, SDC partners managed to identify entry points and continue their work. Networking with international media as a source of information is very crucial in such situations. Policy dialogue is also important to work on issues that divide the government and media.
Rwanda: The coaching in situ has so far led to tangible results. However, building capacity and working on the mindset are still needed. The culture of the leader/chief is very strong and weighs strongly on the quality of media work. The economic progress of the country has not had impact on the financial health of media houses. When funding media, it is very important to aim at transformation (transformative funding).
DRC: diversity of media does not necessarily mean diversified information. Professionalization of media is very much needed. Social ownership of community radios would be very useful in increasing access to information, citizen’s engagement and propensity to hold the leaders accountable
Tanzania: on one hand, involving media actors in policy dialogue on legal/policy issues and not dealing them directly with the government has proved very effective (SDC ‘s support to local stakeholders ’actions in policy dialogue on specific issues has been very successful). On the other, at operational level, static framework can hinder effectiveness. The context is constantly changing. This requires flexibility from SDC and calls for embedding learning processes in the programme, having joint reviews annually and adjusting based on lessons learned." (Lessons learned, page 13)
Rwanda: The coaching in situ has so far led to tangible results. However, building capacity and working on the mindset are still needed. The culture of the leader/chief is very strong and weighs strongly on the quality of media work. The economic progress of the country has not had impact on the financial health of media houses. When funding media, it is very important to aim at transformation (transformative funding).
DRC: diversity of media does not necessarily mean diversified information. Professionalization of media is very much needed. Social ownership of community radios would be very useful in increasing access to information, citizen’s engagement and propensity to hold the leaders accountable
Tanzania: on one hand, involving media actors in policy dialogue on legal/policy issues and not dealing them directly with the government has proved very effective (SDC ‘s support to local stakeholders ’actions in policy dialogue on specific issues has been very successful). On the other, at operational level, static framework can hinder effectiveness. The context is constantly changing. This requires flexibility from SDC and calls for embedding learning processes in the programme, having joint reviews annually and adjusting based on lessons learned." (Lessons learned, page 13)
